INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- For the second consecutive night,
Charlotte Hornets guard Bobby Phills hit a game-winning shot in
the waning moments and the Indiana Pacers suffered a
heartbreaking loss.

Phills scored 23 points, including a 15-foot jumper with 39
seconds left that proved to be the difference as the Hornets
posted their third straight victory, 92-90 over the Pacers.

Friday night against Washington, Phills drained a 16-footer with
two-tenths of a second remaining to give his team a 90-88 win.

"It's been great and a lot of fun winning recently," Phills
said. "If we can win against a team like this, on the road,
we're going to do fine down the long run."

With the win, Charlotte (15-20) moved within 3 1/2 games of idle
New York for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Despite their first-place standing in the Central Division, the
Pacers (24-13) have suffered their last six losses by a combined
seven points, including Friday's 102-101 setback to second-place
Detroit that snapped a four-game winning streak.

The Pacers, who lost Friday on Lindsey Hunter's buzzer-beating
3-pointer, had a chance to pull out tonight's contest on several
occasions down the stretch.

"Back-to-back home losses have left a sour taste in everyone's
mouth in this locker room," said Indiana guard Reggie Miller,
who scored 17 points. "We've got to come up with big (plays)
down the stretch, like stopping Bobby Phills' shot and putting
the pressure on them to stop us."

After Phills' shot, Jalen Rose, who scored 16 points off the
bench, missed an 18-footer and Antonio Davis had his follow shot
blocked out of bounds by Elden Campbell with 19 seconds to play.

"I am astonished to lose two in a row, especially at home," Rose
said. "We can't do that. We must find a way to make the big
play, whether it's a big stop, a key goal or whatever it takes
to win the game. I want this team to win."

"I really don't know what is really going on or happening right
now," Davis added. "It hurts. I know the hurt is in this
locker room right now. This is not what we want. We must
remember we are the hunted now."

Rik Smits and Davis missed consecutive jumpers in the ensuing
sequence before Phills pulled down a rebound and passed to Eddie
Jones. Jones hit 1-of-2 from the line with 10 seconds left,
giving Indiana a chance to steal a win on its last possession.

The Pacers swung the ball around the perimeter to a wide-open
Mark Jackson, whose 3-pointer clanged off the side of the rim
before falling safely into the hands of Hornets guard David
Wesley as time expired. Charlotte collected just its fourth
road win.

"Everybody was switching (on the last play), especially on
Miller, and it's satisfying to come into their place and win,"
Wesley said. "It was big holding them down the stretch. We
tried to contest every shot."

The Pacers were held without a basket over the last eight
minutes.

"We didn't deserve to win," Indiana coach Larry Bird said. "Some
of the shots guys were taking, you could tell they didn't want
the ball in their hands. It's got to be up to the players to
determine if they want to save the season."

Campbell collected 14 points and 16 rebounds for the Hornets,
who blew a 13-point fourth-quarter lead before knotting the
season series with Indiana at 1-1.

"This was a big one," Charlotte coach Paul Silas said. "We
caught this team coming off a terrible loss."

Smits scored 22 points and recorded the 1,000th blocked shot of
his career on Campbell late in the third quarter.

Jones scored 17 points and Wesley added 15 for Charlotte, which
shot 42 percent (32-of-76) and held a 48-43 advantage on the
boards. The Hornets were without leading rebounder Derrick
Coleman, who missed his third straight game with a sprained left
ankle.

The Hornets appeared to take control of the contest just before
the half. Phills hit back-to-back 3-pointers to spark a 10-0 run
that gave Charlotte a 57-47 lead at the break.

That lead grew to 72-58 on a pair of free throws by Jones with
5:02 remaining in the third quarter. Smits' 10-footer with 7.3
seconds left in the third period capped a 16-4 run, pulling
Indiana within 76-74 entering the final 12 minutes.

"We fought back to get in the game, but we couldn't make the big
plays, big shots or come up with the big stops down the
stretch."

Miller snapped an 82-82 tie with a 3-pointer with 8:07 to play.
Rookie Ricky Davis made a free throw and Jones drilled a shot
from beyond the arc to move Charlotte in front, 86-85, with 7:41
left.

The teams exchanged free throws over the next five minutes
before Smits, who was a perfect 6-of-6 from the line after
making 15-of-16 free throws on Friday, made a pair to give
Indiana its last lead, 90-89, with 1:58 to go.